


Time and Again

by idontlikegravy (subcircus)



Category: Doctor Who, Highlander: The Series, Torchwood
Genre: Gen, Highlander Holiday Short Cuts Challenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-14
Updated: 2017-12-14
Packaged: 2019-02-14 21:06:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13016139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/subcircus/pseuds/idontlikegravy
Summary: Jack Harkness is something of a mystery to Methos, and frustratingly that doesn't seem to go both ways.





	Time and Again

**Author's Note:**

  * For [](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts).



_A fierce wind rose up in the Nile Valley, bringing a sandstorm from the Red Land and, with it, four men on horseback. They had ridden long and hard but the land of Khemet held many riches that made the journey worthwhile._

_They were strange men, fair of complexion but dark of purpose. Surely they must be servants of Set or Apep, for their arrival was known to herald chaos and much suffering._

_Many would find themselves facing the scales in the Court of Osiris in the days to follow._

_Their leader was fierce and merciless, two of his brothers were even more so. But the one that men ought to fear most was the quietest of all. This one seemed soft spoken when compared to his brethren, but he rode in the shadow of Mwt, and where he went her touch was certain to be felt._

_Much pain and lamentation was there that day, but all hope was not lost, for there came another stranger to the Black Land in that time. The Oncoming Storm had a ka that was dark and troubled as his name, but his deeds and purpose were most fair, as were his companions._

_And the Oncoming Storm did bar the path of the Four Horsemen, saving Pharaoh’s people from most cert…._

“No. No, I’m sorry, I can’t read any more of this drivel!” Methos said, unable to contain his mirth further.

He turned away from the papyrus that he’d been reading and looked expectantly at the man who had presented it to him. Jack Harkness smiled and leaned across the desk to pick up the document, ensuring that he brushed against Methos’ hand as he did so.

“This was sent to us from the Black Archive. Any references to the Doctor usually find their way there or here,” he explained as he carefully rolled the papyrus and placed it gently in a protective storage crate. “When I read it, I just knew you’d get a kick out of seeing it.”

They were both seated in Jack’s office, an unassuming space underneath Roald Dahl Plass in the centre of Cardiff, home to the team of Torchwood Three, a secret branch of the British Government that was tasked with protecting the Commonwealth from alien threats and keeping track of the mysterious alien known as the Doctor. Just in case he ever became a threat.

“Hmm,” Methos agreed noncommittally “But you didn’t drag me to Cardiff to reminisce about the first time we met.”

Jack held up a finger.

“Technically, it was the first time that you met me, but it wasn’t the first time that I met you,” he corrected.

“Ugh. Time Travel.”

*-*

** _745BCE – Tibet_ **

_Methos had arisen early to climb up to his favourite spot to meditate and watch the sunrise. In the world below him, the monks were just making their way to morning prayer and the people of the village were beginning their chores for the day. Methos took a deep breath and took a moment to marvel at the beauty and the silence of the mountains around him before he began his own earnest contemplation._

_The silence was suddenly pierced by a loud voice, startling Methos from his reverie._

_“Are you sure this is the right place?” said the voice, definitely male and quite close, although it was hard to pinpoint exactly where he might be. The voice also seemed familiar to Methos, though he couldn’t quite place where._

_“This is exactly where the Doctor said to be,” came a replying voice, this time female, and again strangely familiar._

_There was something else strange about their voices, and it took a moment for Methos to realise that they were not speaking the local dialect. These people, whoever they were, they spoke Methos’ own native tongue. This startled Methos more than anything, as he was far from his homeland and, as far as he knew, his people had been so scattered to new homes that there were none left alive that would even know that language, save himself._

_As he was on sacred land, and therefore safe from any immortal peril, Methos allowed his curiosity to get the better of him and went to investigate._

_He didn’t have to go far, and he soon saw the people who had been talking. One was a tall, muscular man with short dark hair and the other a blonde-haired woman, clearly blessed with the ability to bear many children and who looked much like women he had encountered in far Albion. They were very strangely dressed, and although it took him a moment to place them both, he soon realised that he had met them both in Egypt, many years previously. Too many years for a mortal span and these people were not like him, he could tell that. But yet, here they were and not aged one day more than he had in all that time._

_Beyond curious now, that such a thing was possible, Methos approached the couple. The man saw him first and was wary, but seemed to relax quickly, probably when he noted that Methos was not armed and wore the robes of the local monks. The man raised a hand in greeting._

_“Hi there. Don’t suppose you’ve seen our friend around here anywhere, have you?” he asked._

_Methos shook his head in reply. He thought for a second and then remembered who their friend was._

_“The one who is called Doctor, but does not heal bodies?” he asked. The man smiled broadly._

_“So you have seen him. About my height, your kind of build, dressed in black?”_

_“I have not seen him… recently. Do you not recognise me?” Methos replied, still confused._

_The woman walked over to him and looked closely at his face before shaking her head._

_“I’m sorry, no. Have we met you with the Doctor? We meet a lot of people,” she answered._

_“Yeah, but I’m sure I’d remember someone as handsome as him,” the man interjected. He stepped forward and held out his hand. “Captain Jack Harkness, but you can call me Jack.”_

_Methos looked down at the hand and back up to meet the expectant gaze of ‘Jack’._

_“Alexander,” he said, giving the name he had used in mortal society last._

_“The Great, I’d wager,” Jack replied with a smile that left no uncertainty as to where he felt Methos’ talents would lay. The woman whispered something in Jack’s ear and his smile turned sheepish. “Oops. That joke will make sense in about 400 years or so.”_

_Shocked by those words, Methos took a step back. They seemed to know he was Immortal, but they were clearly not. Who were these strange people? Confused and not a little afraid, Methos decided that his continued existence was more important than satiating his curiosity and he turned and ran back down to the temple._

*-*

* _Present Day – Cardiff – Torchwood Three_ *

Methos shook his head and threw a balled up piece of paper at Jack, who was laughing at the memory of Methos running away in monk’s robes and sandals.

“Will you ever let me live that down?” he said with mock exasperation. In truth, it was good to see Jack laughing.

Jack had recently been through some events, the trauma of which would send a lesser man running for the nearest desert island for the next millennia. But Captain Jack Harkness was a truly unique being. Not even being buried alive for two thousand years by his own brother would stop Jack enjoying life.

Fraternal long held grudges was certainly a subject with which Methos could relate, but Jack’s brother Gray was in a class of his own.

Jack picked up the piece of paper, still chuckling quietly, and expertly tossed it in the waste paper basket by the side of his desk. He then leaned forward, suddenly serious.

“Do you still have the key I gave you in 1899?” he asked.

Methos was a little perplexed by the sudden change in conversation, but he did indeed still have the key and nodded.

“Of course. When a man who saved me from a living hell asks a favour, of course I do it.”

*-*

* _1899 – The Royal Naval Vessel HMS Hades_ *

_Methos struggled vainly at his shackles, looking frantically about the gloomy cabin for anything he might use to escape. He’d had he most unfortunate luck to be hit by train, and then have his subsequent resurrection witnessed. He’d made a swift and discrete exit, or so he’d thought, but a few short days later, Her Majesty’s finest had battered down his door and taken him prisoner._

_Since then, Methos had been chained up in this floating hellhole. From the movement of the ship and the smell of brine, they were obviously at sea, although the rocking was gentle enough that he thought they were moored somewhere close to shore. From the conversations he’d been able to overhear, the vessel was part of the British Navy, and apparently tasked by Queen Victoria to protect the Sovereign Waters from ‘strange and unusual threats’. Apparently, he was now classed as a strange and unusual threat._

_He’d tried to play innocent, begging for his life and giving a most convincing portrayal of a terrified and loyal subject of the Crown. Unfortunately, they weren’t taking his word for it and had tortured him until he died. To his dismay, he awoke still chained, and under the watchful eye of Lieutenant James Horton, a rather small man in every sense of the word, who fancied himself a great scientist. Horton proceeded to experiment on Methos, cutting, burning, drugging and any other method he could think of to test Methos’ ability to heal and the limits of his endurance._

_The on-board laboratory in which he found himself imprisoned had no portholes, no cracks in the planks to allow daylight, and so Methos had lost all concept of the length of time he had been there. Every time he woke alone, he would desperately seek a way to escape, to no avail, and he was truly beginning to feel afraid. What if, one day, the ever-inventive Lieutenant decided to try out decapitation?_

_In the middle of a particularly brutal torture-session, there was a commotion on the deck above that made Horton cease his ministrations and leave to investigate. Immediately, Methos returned to his thus far fruitless quest for freedom, and while trying to squeeze his hand through one of his manacles, the door to the cabin burst open, sending splinters into the room._

_Standing in the doorway, dressed as ever in that ridiculous blue longcoat, although it was now over sensible and current fashion, stood Captain Jack Harkness of all people, and Methos had never been so glad to see anyone in his five millennia._

_“Methos!” Jack exclaimed._

_Methos wasn’t sure why he’d trusted Jack with his real name, or when he was going to do so as he hadn’t done so yet, but now was not the time for such concerns. And thinking too much about the confusing way in which Jack and Rose and the Doctor lived was something that was definitely too taxing for his current mental state._

_“Am I glad to see you, Harkness. Quick, free me from these shackles,” he said and rattled them._

_Jack grabbed a key from a nearby hook, where Horton had left them just out of Methos’ reach as another method of torture._

_“It’s not like you to get yourself captured, Old Man,” Jack said as he unlocked the binds._

_Once free, Methos rubbed life back into his hands as his wounds healed. He looked around, wondering where Jack’s usual companions were in all the chaos._

_“Where’s the Doctor? Rose? Are you here to save me?”_

_“I’m afraid I didn’t know you were here. I came the long way round this time, and I’m here to rescue all the prisoners on this vessel, not just you. Feel up to helping me?” Jack replied._

_Methos did not miss that Jack failed to answer the first part of his enquiry but he simply nodded and then collected his possessions from a trunk where he’d seen Horton place them. Unsheathing his sword, he smiled; a cold, humourless smile he hadn’t worn since he dropped the mantle of Death._

_“Lead on.”_

_The two of them fought their way down to the brig, sailors falling before sword and pistol in their dozens. Methos was swept along in a red mist, but he was dimly aware that Jack seemed as impervious to harm as he himself._

_Down in the brig were a collection of pitiful creatures, who clearly had been kept prisoner for some time. Methos could tell that they were not of this Earth, having spent enough time in the sphere of the Doctor to spot an alien. If these were the strange and unusual threats that the sailors had spoken of, Methos pitied the Empire if any of the real threats he knew of ever chose to come calling._

_He and Jack worked to free them and escort them safely from the ship. On shore, several carriages were awaiting and two women who seemed to know Jack directed the freed prisoners inside. Once all were safe, Jack ventured back aboard and, curious, Methos followed. They searched the ship, and Jack explained to Methos that he was searching for any alien artefacts so that he could keep them safe._

_Inside the Captain’s cabin, they found a large chest, made of what looked like a blue stone, lapis lazuli maybe, but it seemed to have a light emanating from within. On seeing the box, Jack’s face grew dark._

_“Help me with the Captain’s trunk,” he asked._

_Methos complied, helping Jack to empty the said trunk and then place the blue chest inside it.  Once that was done, Jack locked the chest and handed Methos the key. They then carried the trunk to the top deck and threw it overboard, into the harbour._

_“May I ask what that was?” Methos said once they were done._

_“Something that mankind isn’t ready for,” Jack answered somewhat cryptically. “Keep that key safe for me, will you?”_

_“Of course,” Methos replied._

*-*

* _Present Day – Cardiff – Torchwood Three_ *

Methos took the key from around his neck, where he had kept it safe for all those years, and handed it to Jack. Jack nodded once, stood and then exited his office. Methos followed him down a short corridor to a store room, inside which was the chest they had tossed into the water over a century earlier.

Jack placed the key in the lock and, miraculously, it worked. Methos could only presume that Jack had pre-treated the lock with copious amounts of WD-40, or some alien, futuristic equivalent. The blue chest was still inside and Methos helped him to lift it out onto a table.

Reverentially, Jack opened the lid and lifted out a rolled piece of canvas. He unrolled it, to reveal a painting of an immense battle on an alien world.

“Gallifrey Falls,” he whispered. “No More.”

“Is that it?” Methos asked, peering into the box to see if there was anything else.

“The fate of more than one world rests on this painting. And it’s time it was put back where it belongs,” Jack said. He rolled the canvas back up and this time put it inside a postal cardboard tube.

“So, was that it? Is that what you called me here for?” Methos asked as politely as he could. Not that he minded reminiscing with Jack, but he had flown three thousand miles for this and it had proved something of an anti-climax.

“Now, don’t be grumpy, Old Man. I thought you could come to dinner with me and meet Ianto. I think you’ll like him,” Jack replied.

Methos smiled. Perhaps Cardiff did have its charms after all.

*-*

* _Sometime in the not-too-distant future_ *

Methos stood on a hill above what had once been Las Vegas and watched as the first of the colony ships took flight. As it slowly rose from the docking platform, the rumble from the engines filled the air, making it vibrate, even though he was twenty kilometres away. His skin prickled with static as the ship turned and fired boosters to begin its ascent to the stars and away from Earth.

“I knew I’d find you here,” he said and turned away from the ships below.

Jack grinned.

“Liar. How could you know?”

“Because a future you told me, in the past,” Methos replied and then grimaced. “Time travel still makes my head hurt.”

“Will you leave?” Jack asked, indicating the dozens of massive ships below them.

“This is it, isn’t it? The end?” Methos asked.

Jack nodded, once.

“It was ancient history by the time I was born. But humanity will survive. Out there,” he answered and looked up towards the sky.

“Then that’s where I’ll be. It’s what I do. Survive.”

Jack smirked.

“Live, grow stronger.”

“Something like that,” Methos replied with a chuckle.

“I hope I see you again,” Jack said, turning his gaze to meet Methos’ eyes.

“Jack, it’s an infinite universe and there are infinite possibilities,” he said.

Jack’s smile dropped for a second, but then he rallied.

“Methos, we are two men with almost infinite time on our hands. Anything is possible.”

 


End file.
